To the editor:

I have two girls, 2nd and 4th grade, who attend South Park Elementary in the Vicksburg Warren  School District. This school has an awesome staff; however, there is one teacher who stands out above the rest! Her name is Kim Reeves. She is the STEM teacher. She is also over the Robotics Club and assigned to morning car rider duty.

Every single morning this woman is outside with a smile on her face. There have been mornings where tensions have been high in my household, whether it was from waking up late, sisterly quarrels, last minute forgotten assignments, etc., and my kids were not their usual pleasant selves.

The initial encounter with Mrs. Reeves turns their day around every time! She greets them rain or shine, cold or hot with a huge smile and even a hug if they look like they need it!

My youngest daughter, who is not in public school yet and wants to be a doctor when she grows up, wears my stethoscope sometimes. Today, Mrs. Reeves took a few minutes to do their customary fist bump and hug her like she always does, but also allowed her to listen to her heartbeat with the stethoscope. My baby talked about that the entire ride home and even told the ladies at the store about it.

One day, my oldest daughter, who has ADHD, tried to bring candy to all her teachers, two of them turned her down, but Mrs. Reeves accepted it with so much excitement! My baby looked at me with the biggest smile because of her response. She had such a great day that school day!

She does little things without a second thought and without trying. It just comes naturally to her. She is such a humble and loving person and she has made such a difference in our lives. I drive away from that school trusting that my children are in her nurturing and accepting hands.

It may not seem like much because it is just who she is, but this woman is leagues above the rest. I am a single mother who works 60-plus hours a week. I say that because, there are a lot of mornings I wake them up later than planned because we made it home a little later than we should have. This often leads to us rushing in the morning time. It is hard to keep my kids enthused about school and on track sometimes because of this, but this initial encounter every morning sets the tone for the day!

South Park is lucky to have her and so are the kids and parents! She is truly a gem!

With so many complaints about the school system and so many negative portrayals of teachers and school officials I have seen, I just wanted to take a moment and thank this individual for essentially answering the call of God on her life. She has to be living her purpose because with all the pressure on instructors to hit benchmarks, not all of them are able to maintain such a sunny disposition. She is truly awesome and very deserving of some recognition!

Catrina Grant

Vicksburg